Baxter (NYSE: BAX) International reports that Preflucel vaccine, using cell-based manufacturing is as effective as conventional chicken egg vaccines

Baxter International's cell-based Preflucel vaccine has been shown to be at least as effective as vaccines manufactured using the conventional method of fertilized chicken eggs.

Fox News reports "Baxter International's seasonal flu vaccine made using quicker cell-based manufacturing methods was at least as effective at preventing flu as conventional vaccines grown in chicken eggs, company researchers said on Tuesday.

They said Baxter's vaccine Preflucel prevented flu in 78.5 percent of people who got the vaccine. That compared to egg-based vaccines, which historically protect 73 percent of people who get the vaccine.

"At 78.5 percent, we certainly would not claim superiority to egg-derived vaccines, but we are at least as protective as vaccines produced by historical manufacturing process involving the use of eggs," said Dr. Noel Barrett of Baxter's Bioscience unit in Austria, whose findings were published in Lancet.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/02/16/baxters-cell-based-flu-vaccine-effective-study-says/#ixzz1EELCJiV3

The use of cell-based methods holds the promise of quicker turnaround time in the development of seasonal flu vaccines, versus the current method.

The NY Times points out that "[using] animal cells, which are grown in enclosed steel tanks, also reduces the risk of bacterial contamination, which has led to shortages of seasonal vaccines in some years.

“I just think it’s an improvement in vaccine production that has been warranted for a long time,” said Dr. W. Paul Glezen, an influenza expert at the Baylor College of Medicine who wrote a commentary to accompany the report, which was published online Tuesday by The Lancet. “I just feel we’ve been sort of slow in implementing it.”

Dr. Glezen said shorter production times would allow health officials to wait longer before deciding which strains to include in the next winter’s flu vaccine, a decision that now has to be made around February. That would increase the chance that the strains in the vaccine match the strains in circulation."

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/16/health/research/16flu.html


The Baxter International press release is here

Excerpt:

Baxter International Inc. announced today results of a study published in this week’s issue of The Lancet that demonstrate effectiveness and tolerability of Baxter’s PREFLUCEL in protecting against seasonal influenza. The study data show nearly 80 percent protective efficacy against the influenza strains contained in the vaccine and a low adverse event profile. PREFLUCEL is manufactured using Vero cell technology, offering an innovative method of vaccine production compared to conventional embryonated chicken egg production, which has been used for decades.